Goddamn it! Every time I feel like I’ve gotten over my addiction to crunked-up, Busch Light-drinking, Merit-smokin’, put-your-fist-through-a-plate-glass-window rawk, a band like Raleigh’s The Cherry Valence comes along and cracks a cold one under my nose. Riffin’, the follow-up to last year’s self-titled Estrus Records debut, gives further proof that this band lives up to […]
Zach Hanner
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Mayflies USA
When Mayflies USA, released their 1999 debut, Summertown, the local four-piece caught a few ears and got decent notices in the press for their pop compositions and layered harmonies. 2000’s follow-up, The Pity List, expanded their audience and cemented their place as local paragons of pop with a rock edge–no twee retro power-pop here, but […]
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Urban Music Raises Up
“North Carolina/Come on and raise up”–North Carolina rapper Petey Pablo If you were anywhere near a television or radio this past year, you undoubtedly heard the breakthrough hit, “Raise Up,” from North Carolina’s own Petey Pablo. In fact, Pablo even had the notoriously urban (and urbane) kids on MTV shouting out to their country cousins […]
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DJ Shadow
When Sacramento’s DJ Shadow (aka Josh Davis) dropped his ’96 debut, Endtroducing, it was an eye-opener for those who thought hip hop required simply a 4/4 beat, some wickety-wiks and a rapper or two. Shadow so remarkably blew away hip-hop conventions that he brought the underground to the surface nearly overnight. While he has contributed […]
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Avalon, the Legend Lives
Rosemary Street has the unfortunate distinction of being second banana to what is perhaps the most well-known thoroughfare in North Carolina. Franklin Street has long been the province of college kids, out-of-town sports fanatics and an assortment of colorful and effusive night owls. But lurking just a few yards over, Rosemary contains some shiny jewels, […]
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Goner
Never underestimate the power of a good synthesizer. What once was the province of ’80s hairspray bands and quirk-pop acts has become the Stratocaster of a whole new gang of flowering musicians. In the case of Raleigh’s Goner, the synth is the crux of their sound, replacing amped-up power chords with melodic progressions and, well, […]
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Smokin’ Granny
Listening to the music of Smokin’ Granny is a lot like going to the fair; you can’t keep focused on one thing for more than a few seconds, but the kaleidoscopic effect is worth any vertiginous discomfort. In fact, the music is so freakin’ schizo that you continuously wonder if the disc has shifted in […]
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Bennett on Bennett
What becomes a legend most? Accessibility. Legendary jazz/pop crooner Tony Bennett graciously found time between interviews, his painting (which he does every day) and his full touring schedule to talk to The Indy. Just don’t look for his reality-TV series (a la The Osbournes) anytime soon. The Independent: How does it feel to have spanned […]
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Crooked Fingers
There’s something about a well-executed cover song that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Maybe it’s the epiphany when you realize, “Hey, I know this song!” or maybe it’s just our collective desire to hear our familiar favorites retooled by another artist whose work we admire. Reservoir Songs, the Merge […]
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And in This Corner …
Vegas is not the sort of place that inspires Tjinder Singh. In fact, the driving force behind London’s pop idols Cornershop finds the whole town a tad ridiculous. Opening for fellow Brits, Oasis, Singh and company are in the states to promote their latest disc, Handcreme For A Generation, and will support the brothers Gallagher […]